The Covid-19 epidemic and Sports Consumption: Evidence from England, Hungary, and Nigeria

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare and identify differences among the populations in Physical Activity engagement, leisure-related activities, sports consumption, sitting time at work, screen time during the Covid-19 (DuCov) period in comparison with the periods before Covid-19 (BeCov) and after Covid-19 (AfCov), in England, Hungary, and Nigeria. A modified version of the IPAQ instrument and validated questionnaire for sports consumption was used to collect data from respondents in these three countries and further categorized based on individual country, sports fans, gender, and combination or comparisons between the countries: England, Hungary, and Nigeria. A reliability test was conducted, and a descriptive analysis and non-parametric t-test were used to determine significance as well as mean rankings. The results show significant differences between the periods BeCov, DuCov, and AfCov and further highlight the extent of the differences through the rankings. Although we found similarities of results from the three countries especially on people’s healthy lifestyle through sedentary by increasing daily sitting and daily screen time DuCov period. However, there were also differences on how the respondents from these three countries consumed sport, engaging in leisure-related activities, before, during, and after Covid-19 period. Generally, it can be concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic has drastically reduced PA engagement, leisure-related activities, and sports consumption. However, an improved situation is realized to some extent in the AfCov period.